Keele Valley Landfill
Encyclopedia
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the third largest in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
during its operation. It was the primary landfill site for the City of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and the regional municipalities
Regional municipality
A regional municipality is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place...
of York and Durham from 1983 until 2002, and was owned and operated by the City of Toronto. It was located at the intersection of Keele Street
Keele Street
Keele Street is a north-south road in Toronto and York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches 47km, running from Bloor Street in Toronto to the Holland Marsh. South of Bloor Street, the roadway is today known as Parkside Drive, but was originally part of Keele Street...
and McNaughton Road in Maple
Maple, Ontario
Maple is a high-growth suburban community northwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Vaughan in York Region.-Geography:The west branch of the Don River rises to the northwest and flows 1 km west of Maple. Several creeks are to the east and the Black Creek begins slightly west...
, a community in the northeastern part of the City of Vaughan
Vaughan, Ontario
Vaughan is a city in York Region north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Vaughan is the fastest growing municipality in Canada achieving a population growth rate of 80.2% between 1996–2006, according to Statistics Canada having nearly doubled in population since 1991. Vaughan is located in Southern...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
In 1985, the initial portion of a landfill gas collection system
Landfill gas utilization
Landfill gas utilization is a process of gathering, processing, and treating the gas to produce electricity, heat, fuels, and various chemical compounds. The number of landfill gas projects, which convert the methane gas that is emitted from decomposing garbage into power, went from 399 in 2005 to...
was installed to reduce emissions and associated odours emanating into the nearby community. This has been used to generate electricity, which it has continued to do since the landfill's closing, sufficient to power 20,000 homes.
The facility is registered in the National Pollutant Release Inventory
National Pollutant Release Inventory
The National Pollutant Release Inventory , established in 1992, is the national Pollutant Release and Transfer Register of Canada. The publicly-accessible inventory is used to track and catalogue the release of pollutants, their disposal, or their transfer to recycling and other facilities across...
, with site identification number 7371. The site emitted about 314 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
equivalent greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
es in 2007.
In 2002, the site was identified by the Government of Ontario
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
as an Area of High Aquifer Vulnerability, which would prohibit waste disposal and organic soil conditioning facilities being built or operating there per the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan. Vaughan's Official Plan Amendment 604 (OPA 604) specified that the site would be redeveloped as an open public space
Public space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
.
Operation
The site was originally a large gravel pitGravel pit
Gravel pit is the term for an open cast working for extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may fill naturally with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either as nature reserves, or as amenity areas...
which was purchased by the city of Toronto in the 1970s. Before its opening, Toronto's trash was sent to the Beare Road Landfill
Beare Road Landfill
The Beare Road Landfill was a landfill that operated in Scarborough, Ontario until 1983. The site is bounded by Finch Avenue East to the north, the Toronto-Pickering Town Line to the east, CN Rail line to the west and hydro corridor to the south....
in Scarborough
Scarborough, Ontario
Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...
, and Vaughan's trash was sent to a site about 1 kilometre north of Keele Valley, north of Teston Road. When it opened, the Keele Valley Landfill was within an almost entirely rural setting, but the rapid growth of Maple in the 1990s surrounded the site with residential developments. The site opened on 28 November 1983 based on an agreement between Metropolitan Toronto
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a senior level of municipal government in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area from 1954 to 1998. It was created out of York County and was a precursor to the later concept of a regional municipality, being formed of smaller municipalities but having more...
and York Region, under which Toronto was required to dispose of York's waste until 2003 in exchange for establishing the Keele Valley site. However, the York municipalities of King
King, Ontario
King is a township in York Region north of Toronto, within the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.The rolling hills of the Oak Ridges Moraine are the most prominent visible geographical feature of King. The Holland Marsh, considered to be Ontario's "vegetable basket", straddles King Township...
and Georgina
Georgina, Ontario
Georgina is a town in south-central Ontario, and the northernmost municipality in the Regional Municipality of York. It forms part of the northern boundary of the Greater Toronto Area and is situated on the southern shores of Lake Simcoe...
disposed of their waste in local landfill for some time, whereas the others paid dumping fees to the city of Toronto for use of the Keele Valley Landfill. The site was originally scheduled to close in 1993, at which time it was expected to reach its capacity of 20 million tonnes. It overlays a sand aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
, using a single engineered landfill liner
Landfill liner
A landfill liner, or composite landfill liner, is intended to be a low permeable barrier, which is laid down under engineered landfill sites...
to prevent leachate
Leachate
Leachate is any liquid that, in passing through matter, extracts solutes, suspended solids or any other component of the material through which it has passed....
from entering the aquifer below.
An on-site Household Hazardous Waste
Household Hazardous Waste
Household hazardous waste , sometimes called retail hazardous waste, is post-consumer waste which qualifies as hazardous waste when discarded. It includes household chemicals and other substances for which the owner no longer has a use, such as consumer products sold for home care, personal care,...
depot collected paint, batteries, pesticides, cleaning agents and other hazardous waste in small (residential) quantities. A general recycling depot, to which residents and businesses could bring appliances (refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, etc.), corrugated cardboard, drywall, scrap metal and tires for recycling operated at the site, as did a tire recycling depot. The facility also had a yard waste drop-off area, from which the operators would transport material for composting in large outdoor windrow
Windrow
A windrow is a row of cut hay or small grain crop. It is allowed to dry before being baled, combined, or rolled. For hay, the windrow is often formed by a hay rake, which rakes hay that has been cut by a mower machine or by scythe into a row, or it may naturally form as the hay is mowed...
s on a site north of the landfill, at the Avondale Composting Site. It also accepted waste brought by residents of households in York Region, but building contractors abused the privilege by bringing numerous small loads to the landfill, prompting the imposition of a tipping fee
Gate fee
A gate fee is the charge levied upon a given quantity of waste received at a waste processing facility.In the case of a landfill it is generally levied to offset the cost of opening, maintaining and eventually closing the site. It may also include any landfill tax which is applicable in the region...
in 1990 for pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
s and small trailers. Commercial haulers were charged $18 per tonne in 1988, and $97 per tonne in 1990.
The site was a profitable venture for the city of Toronto. In its last year of operation in 2002, it generated $25 million of revenue. It processed 1.57 million tonnes of waste in 1986, and 2.2 million tonnes in 1988, most of which increase was by the private sector. By 2000, it was processing 1.4 million tonnes of garbage from the city of Toronto.
Waste collected
The site collected approximately 28 million tonnes of waste throughout its operational lifetime. In 1999 biomedical wasteBiomedical waste
Biomedical waste, , consists of solids, liquids, sharps, and laboratory waste that are potentially infectious or dangerous and are considered biowaste...
constituted 4,300 tonnes and asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
constituted 4,900 tonnes of the waste collected that year. The fee for disposing such waste was $50 per tonne before 3 January 2000, and $75 thereafter until the site closing. The cost of clean fill also increased to $20 per tonne on that date.
Hazardous materials, including biomedical waste and asbestos, were treated before final disposal.
The table below shows the concentration of various leachate chemicals at the Keele Valley Landfill based on the October 2000 report Final Report East Taro Landfill. It compares the Keele Valley peak annual average data to the Ontario provincial standards for municipal solid waste (MSW) and Drinking Water Objectives (DWO). Also included are results from a 2002 paper about Keele Valley leachate analysis by Fleming and D. Rowe, and a 1995 paper by R.K. Rowe.
| Chemical | Concentration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWO standard | MSW standard | Keele Valley | |||
| MOE study | Fleming & Rowe | Rowe | |||
| Chemical oxygen demand Chemical oxygen demand In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD determine the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water or wastewater, making COD a useful measure of water quality... (COD, mg/L as O) |
n/a | 6,100–25,000 | 1,410–27,600 | ||
| Biochemical oxygen demand Biochemical oxygen demand Biochemical oxygen demand or B.O.D. is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The term also refers to a chemical procedure for... (mg/L as O) |
n/a | 3,400–16,400 | 2,330–16,000 | ||
| Total organic carbon Total organic carbon Total organic carbon is the amount of carbon bound in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment.... (mg/L as C) |
1,440–7,060 | ||||
| Electrical conductivity (mS/cm) | 10–23 | ||||
| Total suspended solids Total suspended solids Total suspended solids is a water quality measurement usually abbreviated TSS. It is listed as a conventional pollutant in the U.S. Clean Water Act. This parameter was at one time called non-filterable residue , a term that refers to the identical measurement: the dry-weight of particles trapped... (mg/L) |
40–370 | ||||
| Volatile suspended solids Volatile suspended solids Volatile suspended solids is a water quality measure obtained from the loss on ignition of total suspended solids.-References:*... (%) |
29–65 | ||||
| Benzene Benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6.... (µg/L) |
5 | 20 | <20 | <0.1–25 | |
| Cadmium Cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low... (mg/L) |
0.005 | 0.05 | 0.024 | 0.0002–0.34 | |
| Chloride Chloride The chloride ion is formed when the element chlorine, a halogen, picks up one electron to form an anion Cl−. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and can also be called chlorides. The chloride ion, and its salts such as sodium chloride, are very soluble in water... (mg/L) |
250 | 1,500–2,500 | 2,979 | 1,400–3,800 | 173–3,810 |
| Lead Lead Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed... (mg/L) |
0.01 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.001–33 | |
| 1,2-Dichloroethane 1,2-Dichloroethane The chemical compound 1,2-dichloroethane, commonly known by its old name of ethylene dichloride , is a chlorinated hydrocarbon, mainly used to produce vinyl chloride monomer , the major precursor for PVC production. It is a colourless liquid with a chloroform-like odour... (µg/L) |
5 | nd – <86 | |||
| 1,4-Dichlorobenzene 1,4-Dichlorobenzene 1,4-Dichlorobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H4Cl2. This colorless solid has a strong odor. It consists of two chlorine atoms substituted at opposing sites on a benzene ring. p-DCB is used a pesticide and a deodorant, most familiarly in mothballs in which it is a replacement for... (µg/L) |
1 | 10 | 10 | nd – <86 | |
| 1,1-Dichloroethylene (µg/L) | 14 | nd – 60 | |||
| 1,2-Dichloroethylene (µg/L) | n/a | nd – 900 | |||
| Dichloromethane Dichloromethane Dichloromethane is an organic compound with the formula CH2Cl2. This colorless, volatile liquid with a moderately sweet aroma is widely used as a solvent. Although it is not miscible with water, it is miscible with many organic solvents... (µg/L) |
50 | 3,300 | 3,372 | 215–7,100 | |
| Ethylbenzene Ethylbenzene Ethylbenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5CH2CH3. This aromatic hydrocarbon is important in the petrochemical industry as an intermediate in the production of styrene, which in turn is used for making polystyrene, a common plastic material.... (µg/L) |
2.4 | 30–1,400 | |||
| Toluene Toluene Toluene, formerly known as toluol, is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, i.e., one in which a single hydrogen atom from the benzene molecule has been replaced by a univalent group, in this case CH3.It is an aromatic... (µg/L) |
24 | 1,000 | 950 | 485–1,821 | |
| Tetrachloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene Tetrachloroethylene, also known under its systematic name tetrachloroethene and many other names, is a chlorocarbon with the formula Cl2C=CCl2. It is a colourless liquid widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics, hence it is sometimes called "dry-cleaning fluid." It has a sweet odor detectable by... (µg/L) |
30 | nd – <86 | |||
| Trichloroethylene Trichloroethylene The chemical compound trichloroethylene is a chlorinated hydrocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. It is a clear non-flammable liquid with a sweet smell. It should not be confused with the similar 1,1,1-trichloroethane, which is commonly known as chlorothene.The IUPAC name is... (µg/L) |
50 | 50 | nd – <230 | ||
| Vinyl chloride Vinyl chloride Vinyl chloride is the organochloride with the formula H2C:CHCl. It is also called vinyl chloride monomer, VCM or chloroethene. This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride . At ambient pressure and temperature, vinyl chloride... (µg/L) |
2 | 55 | 55 | nd – 70 | |
| o-Xylene O-Xylene o-Xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, based on benzene with two methyl substituents bonded to adjacent carbon atoms in the aromatic ring .It is a constitutional isomer of m-xylene and p-xylene.... (µg/L) |
30–1,450 | ||||
| m- M-Xylene m-Xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, based on benzene with two methyl substituents.It is an isomer of o-xylene and p-xylene. The m stands for meta, meaning the two methyl substituents are at locants 1 and 3 on the aromatic ring.... and p-Xylene P-Xylene p-Xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, based on benzene with two methyl substituents. The “p” stands for para, identifying the location of the methyl groups as across from one another.... (µg/L) |
300 | 70–3,900 | |||
| Sodium Sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride... (mg/L) |
200 | 824–2,220 | |||
| Potassium Potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are... (mg/L) |
420–1,040 | ||||
| PH PH In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline... |
6.5–8.5 | 5.8–7.4 | 5.9–6.8 | 5.7–6.8 | |
| Ammonia Ammonia Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or... (mg/L) |
220–770 | ||||
| Phenol Phenol Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid. The molecule consists of a phenyl , bonded to a hydroxyl group. It is produced on a large scale as a precursor to many materials and useful compounds... s (mg/L) |
|||||
| Calcium Calcium Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust... (mg/L) |
1,539 | 660–2,880 | 62–2,860 | ||
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen or TKN is the sum of organic nitrogen, ammonia , and ammonium in the chemical analysis of soil, water, or wastewater... (mg/L as N) |
370–1340 | ||||
| Nitrate Nitrate The nitrate ion is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO and a molecular mass of 62.0049 g/mol. It is the conjugate base of nitric acid, consisting of one central nitrogen atom surrounded by three identically-bonded oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement. The nitrate ion carries a... (mg/L) |
10.0 | 0.02–16.00 | |||
| Sulphate (mg/L) | 500 | 34–290 | |||
| Sulphide (mg/L) | 0.05 | 0.2–10.0 | |||
| Alkalinity Alkalinity Alkalinity or AT measures the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the equivalence point of carbonate or bicarbonate. The alkalinity is equal to the stoichiometric sum of the bases in solution... (mg/L CaCO3) |
30-500 | 3,200–8,100 | |||
| Iron Iron Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust... (mg/L) |
0.3 | 46–357 | 0.5–1,910 | ||
| Magnesium Magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole... (mg/L) |
306–695 | ||||
| Manganese Manganese Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals... (mg/L) |
0.05 | 1.7–20.0 | |||
| Mercury Mercury (element) Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum... (mg/L) |
0.001 | 0.00003–0.0025 | |||
| Phosphorus Phosphorus Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks... (mg/L) |
2.5–8.7 | ||||
| Zinc Zinc Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2... (mg/L) |
5.0 | 0.072–5.6 | |||
| Total phenolics Phenols In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group... (4AAP) (mg/L) |
0.2–4.5 | ||||
| Volatile organic acid Organic acid An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are relatively stronger acids. The relative stability of the conjugate... s (mg/L) |
2,260–7,420 | ||||
| Microbial ATP (ng/L) | 20 (avg.) | ||||
| Total heterotroph Heterotroph A heterotroph is an organism that cannot fix carbon and uses organic carbon for growth. This contrasts with autotrophs, such as plants and algae, which can use energy from sunlight or inorganic compounds to produce organic compounds such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from inorganic carbon... s (no./mL) |
2–40×108 | ||||
Landfill gas collection
Landfill gas
Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill.-Production:Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as the putrescible materials begins to break down in the landfill...
, including methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, which constitutes 47% of landfill gases at this site. This system was installed in progressive stages until 2002 as the waste accumulated in the landfill. In 1993, Eastern Power Developers won a bid to develop an electricity generation station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
at the landfill, which it built in 1994 at a cost of $30 million. By April 1995, it was in operation, selling electricity to Ontario Hydro's
Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
electricity distribution department (now Hydro One
Hydro One
Hydro One Incorporated delivers electricity across the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a Corporation established under the Business Corporations Act with a single shareholder, the Government of Ontario....
and the Independent Electricity System Operator
Independent Electricity System Operator
The Independent Electricity System Operator is a Crown corporation responsible for operating the electricity market and directing the operation of the bulk electrical system in the province of Ontario, Canada...
).
The landfill gas was collected from the site and diverted to a central blower and flare station via gas transmission pipes. Most of this gas is then directed to the electricity generating station, which has a peak generation capacity of about 33,000 kilowatts. It generates 274,800,000 kilowatt hour of power annually, delivering 31,370 of continuous power. Five percent of the collected gas is combusted and flared.
It is a combined cycle
Combined cycle
In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
plant consisting of two 1 MW gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
s, two boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s which operate on landfill gas and recovered waste heat
Waste heat
Waste heat sometimes called Secondary heat or Low-grade heat refers to heat produced by machines, electrical equipment and industrial processes for which no useful application is found. Energy is often produced by a heat engine, running on a source of high-temperature heat...
, and one 30 MW steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
. The pipe system extracts 17,005 standard cubic feet per minute (119 million cubic metres annually) of landfill gases from the collection field, which consists of "over 40,000 linear metres of horizontal gas collection trenches and 80 vertical gas collection wells installed within the landfilled waste". Circling the site is a 10,000 linear metre dual header piping system which is used for the transmission of gas from the wells and trenches to the flaring station.
The power plant emits nitric oxide
Nitric oxide
Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, is a diatomic molecule with chemical formula NO. It is a free radical and is an important intermediate in the chemical industry...
for which it has an emission allowance from the Ontario Emissions Trading Registry. Nitric oxide is an air pollutant
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
which has a participatory role in ozone layer depletion and which may form nitric acid
Nitric acid
Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.Colorless when pure, older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as fuming...
in the atmosphere, resulting in acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
.
| Year | Emission allowance | |
|---|---|---|
| NO Nitric oxide Nitric oxide, also known as nitrogen monoxide, is a diatomic molecule with chemical formula NO. It is a free radical and is an important intermediate in the chemical industry... |
SO2 Sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel... |
|
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | 205 | 0 |
| 2007 | 168 | 0 |
| 2008 | 146 | 0 |
| 2009 | 92 | 0 |
| 2010 | 86 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 697 | 0 |
The city of Toronto receives approximately $1 million in royalty payments annually for recovering the landfill gases which are used at the power plant.
Expansion and lawsuit
In 1993, Superior-Crawford Sand & Gravel Ltd., which owned most of the adjacent land, promoted the site's expansion, which it had also suggested in 1991. The company conducted feasibility studies for expansion, and actively campaigned for it, claiming that with expansion an additional 52 million tonnes of waste could be accepted at the site for 20 years, starting in 1996. The report, based on research conducted by consultants hired by the company, claimed that Keele Valley was the most suitable site for consideration based on criteria defined by the Interim Waste Authority (IWA). The company's proposal was to expand the landfill site to include 190 hectares of land owned by Superior-Crawford and 60 hectares of other nearby land, most of which was owned by Metropolitan Toronto.On 20 May 1993, Michael Jeffery, a lawyer for the company, stated that the company would file a lawsuit to challenge the IWA site selection process if Keele Valley expansion was excluded from consideration. By the following week, Superior-Crawford had filed a legal suit contesting the choices of the IWA report for future landfill sites to host the region's garbage, favouring expansion of Keele Valley. It had complained about its exclusion from the original IWA list of 57 potential sites in 1992. The company also mailed pamphlets to 7,000 residents in communities near sites on the IWA short list as part of its campaign. Although expansion of the Keele Valley landfill was not originally a viable option, the legal actions by Superior-Crawford "could very easily change the context", according to Walter Pitman of the IWA. The other viable candidate for a landfill site was the North Vaughan site, adjacent to King City
King City, Ontario
King City is an affluent, unincorporated village in King Township, Ontario, Canada, located just north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King Township, with 1,629 dwellings and a population of 4,902.-History:...
at the northern boundary of Vaughan near Jane Street, which was deemed by Superior-Crawford to be "extremely disruptive" to King City and neighbouring Vaughan residents.
Local residents strongly disliked the dump due to the odours and constant truck traffic it generated, and were opposed to its expansion. As early as 1990, organisations were active in opposing the expansion of the landfill, most prominently Vaughan CARES. Primary objections to the expansion were the existence of new houses built less than one kilometre from the site, the construction of St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School
St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School
St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School is a high school in Maple, Ontario, Canada, located in the city of Vaughan. It is administered by the York Catholic District School Board...
at the nearby intersection of McNaughton Road and Saint Joan of Arc Avenue, and the planned development of a residential community for 30,000 people in adjacent parts of Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...
. The IWA cited a number of concerns regarding expansion of the facility, including the existence of the Maple Nursing Home on Keele Street, which would result in an "insufficient buffer between the home and new landfill, according to IWA standards". By August 1993, the IWA stated that it would consider the merits of expanding Keele Valley if "technical concerns of the IWA can be satisfactorily addressed by Superior-Crawford", eliciting strong objections from Vaughan mayor Lorna Jackson
Lorna Jackson
Lorna Jackson was mayor of the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, for 20 years.-Political career:Jackson was first elected to Vaughan Council in 1974, serving six years as a local councillor and two years as regional councillor before being elected mayor in 1982...
and Vaughan CARES. In 1994, Jackson urged Vaughan council for a broad study to assess the impact of airborne contaminants on nearby residents, and Vaughan CARES requested a clinical study from council. In 1988, Jackson had proposed renaming the landfill the Don Valley Dump, a reference to the Don River and valley in Toronto with headwaters originating near Keele Valley, so that residents of Toronto would "understand how expansion of the refuse heap will affect them".
In 1990, a contingency plan proposed by York Region was accepted by the Solid Waste Interim Steering Committee (a group represented by the regional chairmen of Metro Toronto, Peel, Halton, York and Durham), for regional waste disposal from 1993 to 1996. It permitted the continued operation of Keele Valley during this time, expanding its capacity by 5 million tonnes. In 1993, Mario Ferri had noted that the landfill sits upon the Oak Ridges Moraine
Oak Ridges Moraine
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough...
, which would, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources
Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)
The Ministry of Natural Resources is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that responsible for Ontario’s provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands and waters that make up 87 per cent of the province...
, preclude the site's further expansion.
For the Ontario general election of 1990
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
, the site was used as a campaign stop by Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
and the NDP candidate for York Centre
York Centre
York Centre is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1917 and since 1953....
, during which they promised that if elected, the site would not be expanded without a complete environmental assessment
Environmental impact assessment
An environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible positive or negative impact that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects....
. In 1996, Metropolitan Toronto council indicated that the site would have to be expanded if "stringent environmental legislation" was enacted by the province.
The city of Toronto and a Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) "to permit the continued accessory waste management uses in the Primary Buffer Area at the [376 ha] Keele Valley Landfill Site and yard waste composting at the [66 ha] Avondale Clay Extraction site". It also applied for an amendment to the Environmental Protection Act for a certificate of approval for the yard waste composting facility. The bylaw in effect was to expire on 31 May 1999 per an Ontario Municipal Board
Ontario Municipal Board
The Ontario Municipal Board is an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada...
order. The application would allow landfill operation from 1 June 1999 to 31 May 2002, and operation of the composting facility until late 2003.
Issues
In 1987, owing to media reports that Vaughan council had "learned second-hand about "possibly unacceptable waste" being dumped at the site" a provincial-municipal liaison committee was established to investigate and report on the material being dumped at the landfill.In 1989, the city of Toronto wanted to expropriate 46 hectares of land near the landfill in order to mine it for clay, which it would use to line the landfill. Multiple lawsuits were filed against the city: from 1,500 residents of Maple; from the town of Vaughan; and from Liford Holdings Ltd., owners of the property.
In 1994, York Region filed a $132 million lawsuit against the city of Toronto because it charged higher tipping fees to trucks that had collected waste from York Region than it did to those that had collected waste from Toronto. The suit also requested that the court rescind York Region's permission to the city of Toronto to operate the Keele Valley Landfill.
Resident class action lawsuit
The gas collection system did not collect all the methane, some of which escaped the landfill site. The leachate "made the mounds collapse periodically, causing exhalations of methane, giving off its pungent rotten-egg, hydrogen sulfate stench." The odour would spread throughout the nearby residential areas, and led to a class-action lawsuit initiated by John Hollick, a Maple resident, on behalf of 30,000 residents of Maple against the city of Toronto in 1997. It was rejected by the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 1999, but was taken to the Supreme Court of CanadaSupreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
in 2001. The allegations in the lawsuit were that methane, hydrogen sulphide, and vinyl chloride
Vinyl chloride
Vinyl chloride is the organochloride with the formula H2C:CHCl. It is also called vinyl chloride monomer, VCM or chloroethene. This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride . At ambient pressure and temperature, vinyl chloride...
gases were not sufficiently contained to the site, causing air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
in the area, that truck traffic created noise pollution
Noise pollution
Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life...
, and that seagull droppings were problematic. On 1 March 2001, Gord Miller
Gord Miller
Gord Miller may refer to:* Gord Miller , former Member of the Ontario, Canada Provincial Parliament* Gord Miller , sportscaster with The Sports Network* Gord Miller , Environmental Commissioner of Ontario...
, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is an office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada. The Commissioner is a public servant and does not report to any single Ministry, but rather to the Legislature itself....
, was granted intervenor status to the litigation, which would be presented to the Supreme Court on 18 June 2001. The commissioner's intervenor status in the case was to support the litigant's claim of the landfill being a public nuisance
Public nuisance
In English criminal law, public nuisance is a class of common law offence in which the injury, loss or damage is suffered by the local community as a whole rather than by individual victims.-Discussion:...
, per provisions in the Environmental Bill of Rights
Environmental Bill of Rights
The Environmental Bill of Rights is a piece of legislation enacted in Ontario, Canada in 1993 that allows citizens to help protect and restore the natural environment. The bill provides every resident with formal rights to play a more effective role...
of Ontario.
The Commissioner would not take a specific position on the issue, but was concerned about the Ontario Court of Appeal's reasoning for the rejection of the litigation. The Ontario Court of Appeal had stated that a class action lawsuit could not proceed because "the residents' complaints were not similar enough and were spread over too many years to constitute a common cause" The Supreme Court date was moved to 13 June 2001, before which Miller stated "The framers of the Environmental Bill of Rights believed strongly in the public's right to sue for damages because of a public nuisance causing environmental harm." The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario made oral submissions to the Supreme Court "regarding the role of class actions in protecting environment, the legal threshold for bringing such class actions, and the appropriate test the Court should apply when considering Section 103 of the EBR in conjunction with the requirements of the Class Proceedings Act."
On 18 October 2001, the case was dismissed by the Supreme Court, and the appeal was closed on 26 November.
Closing
The resident class-action lawsuit eventually prompted Vaughan City CouncilVaughan City Council
Vaughan City Council is the governing body of the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.-Council members:*Mayor: Maurizio Bevilacqua*Regional Councillor: Gino Rosati*Regional Councillor: Michael Di Biase*Regional Councillor: Deb Schulte...
to favour closing the site, and shipping York Region's and Toronto's garbage elsewhere. In 2000, Jackson declared to Toronto City Council
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....
that Vaughan Council would not extend the landfill's closing date beyond 2002, and rejected a proposal to operate it at half capacity until 2006.
Some 28 million tonnes of garbage were placed in the 376 hectare dump during its operation. The 99 hectare portion of the site designated as landfill reached its volumetric capacity in 2002, and was closed on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
that year. Thousands of residents and Vaughan councillor Mario Ferri gathered at the base of the heap of garbage that day to celebrate the landfill's closing with champagne, cake, and fireworks.
Toronto had no immediate replacement facility, as the proposed Adams Mine
Adams Mine
Adams Mine is an abandoned open pit iron ore mine located in the Boston Township of the District of Timiskaming, south of Kirkland Lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the Canadian Shield....
project in Kirkland Lake met strong local and environmental opposition. After the closure of the landfill Toronto transported its waste to the Carleton Farms Landfill
Carleton Farms Landfill
The Carleton Farms Landfill is located in Sumpter Township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan.The landfill sits on of property and has a solid waste boundary of . It is owned by Republic Services Inc., and is about west of Detroit...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The city had started shipping 250,000 tonnes of garbage to Michigan as early as 1998, delaying closure of Keele Valley from 1998 to 2002. From 1998 to 2002, between 60 to 70 transport trucks carrying 34 tonnes of waste each were sent daily to Michigan along Highway 401
Highway 401 (Ontario)
King's Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border...
; after the closing of Keele Valley, 130 trucks were sent daily.
However, the Avondale Composting Site operated through most of 2003, accepting clean fill at $30 per load, for revenues of approximately $250,000 that year, also processing existing waste into compost.
At Keele Valley, the city incurred costs of $15–20 per tonne of garbage processed. Sending it to Michigan cost $52 a tonne, increasing the city's waste management costs; closing Keele Valley also reduced the city's revenues, as it would no longer collect tipping fees it had charged private waste disposal companies to dump at the landfill. The city anticipated increased yearly costs of $41.8 million in a December 2002 report, owing to an increase in garbage disposal costs of about 300%. Of that, $13.4 million was due to higher disposal costs in Michigan, $25.8 million in foregone revenue, and $2.6 million related to the closure of the leaf and yard waste composting site.
In 2006 the city purchased the Green Lane landfill
Green Lane landfill
The Green Lane landfill is a landfill near London, Ontario in Canada. It is owned by the City of Toronto.It operates a leachate collection system and an on-site leachate treatment plant. Green Lane also has an extensive landfill gas collection system. This gas is roughly 50 per cent methane and 50...
near London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, which will become the new destination for the city's waste.
In order to address issues related to the costs of sending garbage to landfill sites, the city began a pilot green bin
Green bin
A green bin is a short, rigid container used to collect biodegradable waste or compostable materials as a means to divert waste from landfills. In some localities green bins are also used to contain unsorted municipal waste...
program in Etobicoke in September 2002, expanding the program throughout the city by 2005. This reduced landfill waste material by 30%, and increased waste diversion to about 42%. The city also established a mandatory recycling bylaw; previously, participation was voluntary.
Redevelopment
The site of the Keele Valley Landfill has been partially redeveloped. The garbage has been covered by a thick layer of soil, but it will take many decades for trash to decompose. The actual site of the landfill is not suitable for redevelopment until 2028, but some of the land surrounding it has already been put to new use. Adjacent to the southeastern part of the site is a golf course built in 2006, the Eagle's Nest Golf Club. In 2005, soccer fields and baseball diamonds were built on the north end of the site.
External links
- 2008 Facility & Substance Information for CITY OF TORONTO - Keele Valley Landfill at Environment Canada
- 2008 Detailed Substance Report for PM - Total Particulate Matter reported by CITY OF TORONTO - Keele Valley Landfill at Environment Canada
- 2008 Detailed Substance Report for PM10 - Particulate Matter <= 10 Microns reported by CITY OF TORONTO - Keele Valley Landfill at Environment Canada
- 2008 Detailed Substance Report for PM2.5 - Particulate Matter <= 2.5 Microns reported by CITY OF TORONTO - Keele Valley Landfill at Environment Canada
- Keele Valley Landfill Facility Profile at PollutionWatch
- Trash (Real Audio format) on The CurrentThe Current (radio program)The Current is a Canadian current affairs radio program, hosted by investigative reporter Anna Maria Tremonti on CBC Radio One. It airs weekdays starting at 8:37 a.m. local time and runs until 10 a.m. for most of the year, although during the summer the program airs until 9:30 a.m...
at CBC Radio OneCBC Radio OneCBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming... - Modeling leachate production from municipal solid waste landfills (PDF) at The GeoEngineering Centre
- Clogging of gravel drainage layers permeated with landfill leachate (PDF) at The GeoEngineering Centre
- Influence of landfill leachate suspended solids on clog (biorock) formation (PDF) at The GeoEngineering Centre
- Field observations of clogging in a landfill leachate collection system at the Canadian Geotechnical Journal
- Evolution of clog formation with time in columns permeated with synthetic landfill leachate (Journal of Contaminant Hydrology)
- DOCKET: C31728 and C32103 at the Court of Appeal for Ontario